1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to character input technology, and more particularly, to an apparatus for recognizing a user's hand gesture of touching a space through a camera and inputting a character according to the recognized hand gesture and a method of inputting a character using the apparatus.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As use of information equipment has become commonplace in present-day society with the development of computer information technology, the importance of natural interaction between information equipment and users is on the rise.
Accordingly, information equipment using a text-oriented interface is being developed to use various movements of a user. A touch screen is a typical device for using movements of a user, and is widely used in smart phones, tablet personal computers (PCs), games, and so on.
According to implementation principles and operation methods, existing touch screens are classified into various types, such as a resistive (decompression) type, a capacitive type, an infrared type, and an ultrasonic type. Specifically, in the case of the resistive type, a touch input can be made using a finger or an electronic pen, but there are disadvantages of poor screen clarity and vulnerability to impact.
In the case of the capacitive type, an input can be made even by slightly touching the screen. However, it is impossible to make an input with a material that does not induce electrons, unlike a finger, and the touch screen is highly likely to malfunction due to minor damage. In addition, the infrared type, the ultrasonic type, etc. have problems of high cost and low durability, and thus show a low degree of utilization.
In addition to these existing problems, a screen positioned on a high place or a screen gradually increasing in size results in an untouchable region of the screen in which information cannot be input because it is not possible to touch the region with a hand. To solve this problem, it is necessary to develop a system that can recognize a hand gesture of a user without a direct touch of a hand of the user or an additional mechanical input device and thus can be remotely controlled.